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Tales of a Landlady: Absolute beginners

Rosie Millard explains the buy-to-let basics for potential new landlords

Last week I had an urgent request from a reader. “Dear Rosie,” wrote my correspondent. “Help! You are always going on about gearing. But what is gearing?” It’s a bad habit, going all technical and assuming others are up to speed with the terminology. Of course, just because I have been writing this column for five years doesn’t mean you have been reading it for five years.

So here is a cut-out-and- keep list explaining what the buy-to-let business is about and how to get into it. It is aimed at those who are new to the party, but if you are an experienced buy-to-letter, you might like to compare and contrast your experiences. This week is all about choosing the property.

1.Work out your finances: You must calculate how much you are going to spend on an investment property and how you are going to fund it. Perhaps